Ismail Gulgee (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' also known simply as Gulgee, was a Pakistani painter. Born in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, he received his early education at

Lawrence College Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

before attending Aligarh University,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

for higher education. He started off painting

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

s before turning to abstract art, basing his works on

Islamic calligraphy Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). ...

. He gained international acclaim, and was commissioned to paint several leaders, including

US Presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government a ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

and George H. W. Bush, the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

King Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and Pakistani leaders Zulifqar Ali Bhutto and General Ayub Khan. On 19 December 2007, he was found murdered at his house with his wife and maid. After a lengthy investigation, his driver and servant were convicted and given

life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...

on 23 May 2017.

Early life and education

Gulgee was born on 25 October 1926 at Karimpura locality in

, Pakistan.Profile of Ismail Gulgee on artnet.com website
Retrieved 6 July 2019 For his education, he went to

Lawrence College Murree Lawrence College Ghora Gali is a school situated in Murree Tehsil, Punjab, Pakistan. The college is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and Pir Panjal at a height of about 1950 metres (6395 feet) above sea level, covering an area of . It ...

and then to Aligarh University to study

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

. Then he went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to continue his higher education. While he was an engineering student at

, he started to paint. Later, Gulgee also studied at

Painting style

Before 1959, as a portraitist, Gulgee painted the entire Afghan Royal Family. In the early 1960s, he turned to abstract painting. Gulgee was a skilled naturalistic

painter who had enjoyed (according to Partha Mitter) "lavish state support" and plenty of elite commissions in this capacity. Nevertheless, he was perhaps best known worldwide for his abstract work, which was inspired by

and was also influenced by the "

action painting Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical a ...

" movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Some people say that Elaine Hamilton was a strong influence on him. In both Islamic calligraphy and action painting, a high value is placed on the unity and energy of gestural flow. Gulgee's canvases were often quite large in the tradition of other action painters or abstract expressionists. Sometimes he used materials such as mirror glass and gold or silver leaf in his oil paintings. Therefore, in fact, they appeared to be

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

pieces. According to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

(see external links): "Gulgee's calligraphy paintings are abstract and gestural interpretations of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Islamic design elements." Beginning in the 1960s (if not earlier), Gulgee (along with his younger brother Agha Sadaruddin (a well-known filmmaker and photographer for

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

and

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

), also created sculptures, including bronze pieces that were (like so many of his paintings) calligraphic in form and inspiration, and sometimes specifically based on verses from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

. His son Amin Gulgee is also a famous artist.

International and special assignments

Guljee received many requests for his paintings internationally, from the

Saudi royal family The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), an ...

to the Islamabad presidency. Many of his works are placed in the

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque ( ur, , faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in capital Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Pakistan's ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Painting exhibitions

Gulgee held his first painting exhibition in 1950. Gulgee's exhibitions have mostly been available to few people. Keeping that in mind and high public demand, an art gallery for Gulgee has been built in

Clifton, Karachi Clifton is an upscale and historic seaside locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the most affluent parts of the city, home to some of Karachi's most expensive real estates. It is home to several foreign consulates, while its commercial cent ...

, near South City Hospital and Sea View Karachi. Gulgee mostly painted for his own inspiration and vision. Although selected paintings are displayed at Clifton Art Gallery.Ismail Gulgee (profile)
Clifton Art Gallery website, Retrieved 6 July 2019

Murder

Gulgee, his wife Zarrin Gulgee and a maid were found dead by strangulation in their house on the evening of 19 December 2007 by his servants. Police suspect that all three had been murdered. While the bodies were found on the 19th, officials report that they had apparently been deceased for three days, leading to a speculative death date of 16 December 2007. Their bodies were found bound and

gagged A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attempting ...

in separate rooms of the house. The initial cause of death for all three had been attributed to suffocation. According to press reports, his son reported that Gulgee's car and driver were missing and a foul smell coming from his parents' home. Gulgee was buried on the evening of 20 December 2007 in Karachi. Meanwhile, Gulgee's driver and another servant were arrested by the police as suspects and tried in court. The court case lingered on for many years. Finally, in May 2017, both of them were convicted and handed down life imprisonment sentences.

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1970 by the President of Pakistan *

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

(Star of Excellence) Award in 1982 by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

* Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1995 by the President of Pakistan

References

External links

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
discussion of modern art in Pakistan (including COLOR IMAGE of a 1999 Gulgee work)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulgee, Ismail 1926 births 2007 deaths 2007 murders in Pakistan Modern painters Pakistani sculptors Modern sculptors Calligraphers of Arabic script Aligarh Muslim University alumni Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Harvard University alumni Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pakistani Ismailis Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani murder victims People murdered in Karachi Deaths from asphyxiation Pashtun people People from Peshawar Artists from Karachi 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists Muslim artists American male sculptors Pakistani civil engineers Pakistani painters Lawrence College Ghora Gali alumni Deaths by strangulation